President's Budget Would Gut Programs That Help Young Chicagoans Escape Cycle Of Poverty And Violence

WASHINGTON – At a hearing of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) questioned U.S. Department of Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta about the forty-percent cut to job training programs proposed in the President’s fiscal year 2018 budget. Durbin invited Secretary Acosta to visit Chicago and see firsthand what the Trump budget cuts would mean for the city’s efforts to reduce gun violence.

“If we can get many of these young people in a job, it does amazing things. It changes their lives,” Durbin told Acosta. “I’d like to invite you to Chicago. I want you to come to the programs that you’re proposing are going to be cut. I want you to meet the people who are in those programs. When we say ‘send in the feds,’ I can agree with the President; I want to send you in. Take a look at what your programs are doing and what your cuts will mean. ”

Video of Durbin’s remarks to the Labor HHS Subcommittee is available here.

Audio of Durbin’s remarks to the Labor HHS Subcommittee is available here.

Footage of Durbin’s remarks to the Labor HHS Subcommittee is available here for TV Stations.